Man says Greyhound refused to let him board bus with service dog

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh man said a weekly trip to spread joy and happiness regularly turns into an embarrassing headache.

"I just didn't feel comfortable being grilled about my medical history in front of 40 strangers," said Steven Gailey, a professional clown.

He says Greyhound refused to let him board the bus with his service animal. He talked one-on-one with KDKA Consumer Investigator Meghan Schiller about his weekly trips to Harrisburg to spread joy.

"In Harrisburg, I'm helping a group there called Self-Esteem Ministry start their own clown troupe and they're going to go to the hospital there," Gailey said.

Gailey is teaching inner-city kids how to be clowns for humor therapy, but his experience lately, with his service dog Neal by his side, is anything but funny.

"The steward on the bus wanted to know why I had him and I said he's a service dog," he said. "Now at the time, it was a very hot day so he wasn't wearing his vest. And he wanted to know what he did for me and he wanted to know what was wrong with me."

Gailey takes Amtrak to Harrisburg with no issues, but he said some of the bus drivers and employees at Greyhound question his service dog and disability.

"It takes two to three hours to get someone (on the phone) and you get someone in another country and about one and three times they don't understand what he is and say dogs aren't allowed on the bus and hang up on me," Gailey said.

After he said it happened on multiple trips, he's speaking out. Greyhound's policy on its website states, "We welcome service animals on board Greyhound buses (they always seem to enjoy the ride too)."

"But that's not their phone line, that's not half of their staff," said Gailey. "When they stranded me in Harrisburg a month ago, I had to take out all of the paperwork, I had to give some guy I never met before at the station and beg him to put me on the next bus because another guy made a mistake. And I'm not supposed to have to do that."

Gailey suffers from seizures and doesn't feel comfortable driving. He says Neal stays by his side to alert him about a potential seizure.

KDKA Investigates learned under the Americans with Disabilities Act in situations where it's not obvious that a dog is a service animal, staff can ask two questions:

1. Is the service animal required because of a disability?
2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Staff are not allowed to request documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task or inquire about the person's disability.

KDKA Investigates reached out to Greyhound and a spokesperson said:

"Greyhound is working with this passenger – and we remain committed to ensuring accessibility for every single passenger, including those with disabilities and those who require the use of service animal."

When KDKA-TV asked if the staff has been trained or alerted to these concerns, a Greyhound spokesperson later added:

"We regret any unsatisfactory experience this passenger faced while traveling with Greyhound and we are continuing to work directly with the passenger to ensure their needs are fully met while minimizing inconveniences as much as possible. To that end, we will continue working to ensure that all staff across the organization are aware of and compliant with all company policies, along with all applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations. Greyhound remains committed to ensuring accessibility for every single passenger, including those with disabilities and those who require the use of service animals."

Gailey said this about Greyhound's response: "Someone from their public relations department called and said they really care and they understand this is an issue and they'll fix it But no one in charge will talk to me."